The 1740 Miller-Kingsland House-Boonton Historical Society
445 Vreeland Avenue
Boonton, NJ 07005
Open: For special events and the Pathways Tours-Contact Boonton Historical Society
My review on TripAdvisor:
The Miller-Kingsland Homestead at 445 Vreeland Avenue
I went to visit the Miller-Kingsland Homestead, which is part of the Boonton Historical Society, during the Morris County’s Pathway’s tour and discovered a beautiful little historical home situated on picturesque piece of property. I saw by the signs that the grounds were maintained by the local Garden Club, who did a wonderful job landscaping the grounds.
The Living Room in the extension on the house
The portraits of Mr. & Mrs. Kingsland
The Dining Room in the old section of the home
The historic home is filled with period furnishings and decorations, none it seems local to the home. Still you can see how the home has changed over the years with additions and renovations. The older part of the home is now part of the Dining Room.
The Pewter ware collection on the Dining Room table
The fireplace in the original house kitchen now in the Dining Room
The formal Dining Room in the extension of the house
The formal Dining Room in the newer section of the home
The antique China Closet with Teapots
The outside of the house
The grounds of the home
The house sits on a quiet bend in the road and the properties landscaping was just beautiful. Even on this gloomy, rainy day, it was nice to walk around quickly and admire the flower beds and the lawn.
The grounds of the home
The outside gardens of the home in the Spring
The History of the home:
(From the Boonton Historical Society Pathways Tour Book and Wiki):
When Isaac Kingsland purchased the property on Vreeland Avenue from Jacob Miller c 1798, he began a dynasty that would include four New York City lawyers, a comptroller of the City of New York, a Civil War aide to General Benjamin Butler, a college president, three nuns, and a troupe of nationally known marionettes. Similarly, the property itself went from small to large to small again, from the home of farmers, a carpenter and a blacksmith, to a boarding home for horses and the headquarters and studio premises for a company of touring entertainers (Boonton Historical Society).
The Miller-Kingsland House is the oldest recorded home in Boonton. The original Dutch house was one-room with a sleeping attic, built by Johannes Miller around 1740. This room, which is complete with a large cooking fireplace and beehive oven, makes up the west wing of the current structure. The property was sold to Isaac Kingsland in 1798. He added the two and one-half story main section in 1808. It features Dutch style and a gambrel roof (Wiki).
The Miller-Kingsland house sits on a beautiful wooded landscape with a stream flowing through it. The property today comprises some 2.5 acres including the historic frame house and a barn. It is the oldest recorded house in Boonton and is listed on the NJ and National Registers of Historic Places (Boonton Historical Society).
The front of the Jefferson Township Museum at 315 Dover Milton Road
The Mission Statement for the Museum:
(from the Museum website)
The George Chamberlain House, known as the Jefferson Township Museum is designed as an interpretation of lifein thelast quarter of the 1800s. Each room reflects how the Chamberlains, the original family might have lived during that period of time.
The historic sign of the George Chamberlain House
The History of the Museum and of the George Chamberlain House:
(from the museum website)
In the 1870s, Amos Chamberlain, a resident of Milton Village built a second house. His son, George, married Ruth Elizabeth Speaker in 1874 and moved into the new house on Dover-Milton Road. Two children, Raymond and Archie were raised in the house and attended school in the Milton Village. The family was in residence until the 1890’s. For many years afterwards, the house was home to various families who rented from the Chamberlain family.
In 1960 the Chamberlain house was purchased by the Friends of the Library. They began the task of refurbishing the building into a library. For the next nineteen years it functioned as the Violet Riker Library. When the new Jefferson Library was built, the township acquired the building and under the supervision of local resident, Emily Panek renovation began.
With a $15,000 grant and $27,000 raised from the township the renovation began in 1982. Much of the labor was donated. Walls were sandblasted and the chestnut floors were repaired. A large hole in the front door was repaired. The windows were all repaired by hand. The rear left liter broke and water came in through the back wall. After two years of work, the building became the Jefferson Township Museum and home to the Jefferson Township Historical Society. It remained as such with little interior or exterior change until 2005.
The front door of the house
The museum sign
The back of the museum by the stream
The house faces a beautiful woods and stream and has the most amazing views. It must be even nicer when everything is in bloom.
The house gardens in the early Spring
The historic home museum front the street
The historic Milton Village sign
The area that surrounds the house is very small and the original village is mostly gone.
The Dress Collection on display at the museum.
The collection of dresses on display
The day of the Pathways tour for Morris County, the house had members in costume walking around the house explaining the history of the house and family. Each room had its own series of decorations and exhibits. There was garment display all around the house with different types of dresses, hats and jewelry. One member displayed his antique camera collection.
The Clothing Collection with a display of jewelry
The Jewelry and Pocket watch collection
The had a wonderful display of antique costumes jewelry and cameos on display in the case.
Collection of Cameras through the past century
One member displayed his extensive set of cameras and antique photography equipment and was on hand to talk to people about it.
Collections of Antique China and textiles at the museum
Collection of Vintage China and Teapots in the Dining Room of the home
The upstairs bedrooms had a collection of textiles and Millinery
The three upstairs bedrooms had the continued collection of dresses and hats on display.
The antique sewing machine in the upstairs bedrooms
The Collections of Textiles upstairs
Collection of weapons in the bedroom
The collection of Costumes and Millenary
The wonderful little museum was packed with all sorts of wonderful things to see. Each of the rooms are decorated with vintage furniture and period decorations on top of the displays of clothing and textiles so there is a lot to see in the house.
The docents could not have been nicer or more welcoming that afternoon. The museum is only open at certain times of the month so you need to watch their social media to see when the museum is open.
The History of the Parsippany Historical and Preservation Society:
(from the Society website)
The Bowlsby / DeGelleke House is a one and a half story, clapboard-sided farmhouse set on a stone foundation. The house was built by George Bowlsby, Jr., c.1790. Originally constructed as a 3-bay façade, an 1819 2-bay addition to the right of the door resulted in a central entrance appearance. The porch was constructed in the Greek Revival style in the 1850 renovation.
A center hallway runs from the front door to the rear door of the house and contains a mid- Victorian open staircase to the second floor and stairs to the basement. On either side of the hallway are two interconnecting rooms. The left (west) side contains a front parlor with a simplified Greek Revival fireplace and a small back room. The right (east) side of the house contains a dining room and a kitchen. Original floorboards remain, with a replacement floor in the kitchen.
Three second floor bedrooms were added when enlarged in 1819. In c.1920, walls were added to create two more bedrooms. An existing front bedroom was changed to a bathroom. The kitchen was also modernized, but still utilized a hand water pump from a cistern in the cellar.
In 1977, the house was purchased by the Township from the estate of Alethea DeGelleke, to be used as The Parsippany Historical Museum. In 1978, the building was added to the State and National Historic Registers. Restoration was completed in 2008 with grants from the Morris County Historic Preservation Trust and the Township’s Open Space Program.
The historic marker for the house
Mission Statement
(from the Society website)
The purposes of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Historical and Preservation Society are to:
*Encourage an appreciation for, and an understanding of, the history of the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills by holding meetings at which historical lectures, entertainments, discussions, and other programs are scheduled; by marking historical sites, roads, trails, and building; by publishing work concerned with historical research; by working with school administrators and teachers to encourage the study of local history, and by engaging in other appropriate activities; *to seek out, to collect, and to collate material which may help to reveal and illustrate the history of the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills in terms of exploration, settlement, and development; * to cooperate with public and private agencies in providing for the preservation and for the display of historic sites and materials; * to conduct or encourage archaeological investigations in the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills; * to hold title to real and personal property of historical interest of significance that the Society may acquire; * to hold title to moneys or instruments acquired for the purpose of furthering and/or maintaining the Society’s properties. History of the Society
The Society was incorporated on June 8, 1998. Since that time the Society has worked toward the mission of preserving and interpreting the Township’s history and historic structures. The Society works with the Township to open the Township’s historic sites, including the Parsippany Museum, also known as the Bolwsby / DeGelleke House, the Smith / Baldwin House, Old Littleton Schoolhouse and the Forge Pond and Dam property. The Society also sponsors programs that highlight the history of the Township and are held at one of the Townships historic properties.
The Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
The Living Room of the house
I visited the Bowlsby-DeGelleke home during Morris County’s Pathways tour recently and discovered an interesting historic home that had been in the Bowlsby family for many generations while farming hundreds of acres of land in this area. The tour guide explained that while the house may have been small, the influence of this family was felt around the community.
The front sitting area
The fireplace in the room with silver collection and the family tree
The Bowlsby Family tree
You could see by the family tree that house and land stayed in the family from the mid 1700’s to 1910, with the farmland being broken up with each generation inheriting a piece of the overall farm.
The back bedroom and nursery
The back bedroom on the first floor behind the Living Room
The kitchen in the back of the first floor
I thought they did a wonderful job decorating the kitchen to reflect different time periods.
The kitchen wares and items needed for everyday life
Family China and crockery in the kitchen
The China pattern shown here was not the family’s but close to what the family would have owned and entertained with for meals.
Artifacts found on property and at a dig site at an old mansion in town
Native American artifacts and weaved baskets from the local area
Information on the local area and items from the dig
The second floor Children’s room display
I loved the Children’s Room with the vintage toys and furniture. This interpretation would have been for a wealthy or upper middle class child. I loved the selection of dolls and games throughout the room.
The toys and doll display in the second floor room
The toys on display in the second floor room
The second floor bathroom
The second floor farm items of baskets and pots. Item used on the farm.
The baskets and crockery used on a farm
This display reminds visitors that this was still a working farm until up to about a hundred years ago.
Paintings and artwork on display in the house
Artifacts in the hallway from the first to the second floor
The display of local historical homes and their history
Local historical homes
Artifacts at the bottom of the stairs in the foyer as I left
The house had been in the family for almost five generations until it had been sold to another family who in turn owned it for another set of generations. The memory of this family still lives on in this wonderful museum.
The Borough of Rockaway Historical Museum at 199 West Main Street
The sign that welcomes you to the museum
When I visited the Borough of Rockaway Historical Museum, I like probably everyone else got the Rockaway Township Historical Society and Museum mixed up with the Borough of Rockaway Historical Committee and Museum. One is in the Township of Rockaway and one is in the Borough of Rockaway which are two different towns.
That was confusing enough and the fact that Google had them as closed on the Google website (which I changed). I was lucky to get there with just over an hour to visit the museum.
The museum was worth the trip. Located in Downtown Rockaway, NJ, the museum was near all the restaurants and shops downtown plus a historic cemetery at the Presbyterian Church. The whole museum you can see in an hour so it was just perfect.
The front gallery of the museum
The front gallery is dedicated to town history and the Morris Canal. The Morris Canal was the reason for the growth in this area of New Jersey and was built on the wealth of the farmers crops, coal and light manufacturing. Items were then sent to New York City and Philadelphia.
The railroads would change this later but would be where the early growth of this area would come from.
Pictures of the Morris Canal in the area
Pictures of the early Morris Canal in Rockaway, NJ
Artifacts of early Rockaway history including bottles and newspapers
WWII listing of Veterans lost in the war
The second small gallery showcased former businesses of the Town of Rockaway, NJ from the Downtown merchants to the larger, more commercial businesses. Most do not exist anymore.
The businesses of old Rockaway and the surrounding area
Artifacts from the McKinnon Axe Factory
The businesses with high school memorabilia
The McKinnon Axe Factory
The McKinnon Ace factory was once a major employer and manufacturer in the town. Long out of business, the museum has lots of pictures and artifacts from the company.
Artifacts from the McKinnon Axe Factory
Artifacts from the McKinnon Axe Factory
Old businesses from Downtown Rockaway
Most of these old businesses do not exist anymore but their memories live on in these displays with artifacts from a lot of these businesses.
Old businesses in the Rockaway
The Beaver Brook Dairy Farm
In the back gallery, the museum had more displays of the high school and displays on the history of the Rockaway Police and Fire Department. There was historical maps of the area and a small Military display. They even had an original land deed from one of the earliest settlers living in the area.
There were even pictures of the old quarry of the town that once sat behind the museum. It shows how the town keeps changing.
The display of Rockaway High School memorabilia
Graduation and Washington trip photos
The Military display and historic maps of Rockaway
A closer look at the Military display and the local hero’s of the town. The display showcased some of the residents in town who made important contributions to the military effort including a Four Star General.
The historic map of early Rockaway Village
The Military, Fire and Police Department displays
Artifacts and memorabilia from the Fire and Police Departments of Rockaway
The display of Rockaway schools and pictures of the City Fathers who ran the Borough of Rockaway
The old quarry that sat behind the historical society that is now Recreational space and ball fields showing how the town keeps changing
This little hidden gem is located just off the main downtown and should not be confused with the Historical Society of the Township of Rockaway, which is another town with it’s own Society.
There is a lot to see at the museum and is a nice way to get to know a little about the history of the area. This includes local family history as well.
The Jackson Family land deed of one of the old families of Rockaway
Walking around Downtown Rockaway, NJ after the tour of the museum:
Around the corner in Downtown Rockaway is the First Presbyterian Church of Rockaway at 35 Church Street, where members of three Jackson family members and many original settlers were buried.
The old cemetery behind the church were many original families are buried
The history of the First Presbyterian Church of Rockaway’s Historical Cemetery:
(from the church website)
Part of the present-day cemetery was believed to be an old Native American burial ground. Colonial settlement took hold here in Rockaway, Morris County New Jersey, around the year 1720, and considerable business formed around 1730 with the building of the Job Allen Sr. Iron Works. Tradition states that this particular spot was selected as a burial ground by the earliest families. On March 2, 1758, the Presbyterian Church was founded and organized. The first Meeting House constructed of wood, was built in 1758-60, primarily by Job Allen Sr. Job Allen Jr. would complete the construction of the Meeting House some 36 years later in 1794. The present church sanctuary was built in 1832.
The original church property consisted of 10 acres and 30 perch, which used to cover property west of Wall Street, and also included property across the street from the present church. Some of the earliest settlers whose grave sites are unknown and forgotten can be under the large church parking lot or even under some of the cemetery roads.
On September 27th, 1773, David Beaman: a founding member, deacon, chorister, elder of the Rockaway Presbyterian Church, was voted “to take care of the burying yard, to tell people where to bury their dead, and to advertise it through the parish.” This makes him the first sexton at the Rockaway Presbyterian Church. Ironically, David Beaman is buried in a grave that was never marked. He passed away in 1802 and has a cenotaph in the cemetery. Thomas Conger became sexton in 1797. Revolutionary War veteran, David Gordon, became sexton in 1802. People used to call him “the old sexton.” His broken tombstone bears the same inscription. He held the position as sexton for over 30 years. He died in 1852 at the age of 92 years and 10 months. In 1832 William Wear became the sexton for the “new church”, having “the privilege of tilling and pasturing the graveyard.” After his service there was Silvanus Howell in 1840, in 1845 Samuel Garrigus, then John B. Kelsey and Fredrick Star, then David Hamilton in 1858, Joseph H. Beach in 1864, then John Gordon Mott (David Gordon’s grandson) in 1875, who held the position for an astounding 47 years! He was also the first sexton who kept accurate records. He was assisted by William Rogers and Peter Beatty in the last few years of his tenure. Peter Carlyon followed John Gordon Mott in 1923 retiring in 1955. The oldest gravestone is dated April 8th, 1762. David Estill lost his beloved wife Mary at the age of 24 years.
There are estimated to be 47 Revolutionary War veterans buried here, including a Hessian Soldier named Leopold Zindle (d. 1821), some accounts say around 100 people buried here participated in the conflict. The Morris County- New Jersey Militia’s highest ranking officer, Brigadier General William Winds is buried in the small knoll behind the church. He was also elected as one of three delegates from Morris County to the New Jersey Convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States for the state of New Jersey in 1788. He died in 1789.
There are 16 War of 1812 veterans interred in the cemetery, 6 War of 1812 “peace time era” service members of the Morris County N.J. Militia, 132 Civil War veterans, 13 Spanish American War veterans, 89 WWI veterans, as of December 2021 there are 168 WWII veterans, 41 Korean War veterans, 20 Vietnam War veterans resting in peace. There are approximately 7,000 people interred in the cemetery.
In 1861 – 1865 the cemetery was surveyed and plotted, and walkways and roads were constructed. In 1933 part of George W. Stickle’s will was bequeathed to the cemetery. Part of the money was used to erect the iron spiked fence that surrounds half of the property (from the church website).
The section of the Jackson family plots
The Jackson family plot in the cemetery
The museum is a treasure trove of information of Rockaway’s and central New Jersey’s past. It is interesting to see how the area had changed and how it will continue to progress in the future.
On the recommendation of the head of the museum, who was also a town Councilman, I walked down into the downtown area to have lunch. I stopped at Anthony’s Pizzeria at 51 West Main Street for lunch. I just wanted a slice of pizza.
The historic building at the crossroads of Downtown Rockaway at 51 West Main Street
Anthony’s Pizzeria at 51 West Main Street has been in business for 45 years and a town staple.
I ordered a slice of pizza and a Coke and while I was talking to the owner, I looked into the pizza case and saw an unusually large slice of Cheese pizza. He explained it was their specialty stuffed pizza and it had everything in it from ham, pepperoni, sliced meatballs, onions, peppers and olives etc.
When I told him I was not thrilled with cooked vegetables on pizza, he insisted I try a slice and cut me a piece to try complimentary. He was a good salesman. He warmed it up and I have to say that I was pretty impressed by it. The layers of ingredients give it its complex and combination of spicy and tangy flavors
There is a lot in that slice of pizza
I have to say that I was impressed by it. I would have left out the olives but still it had a unique flavor and with a small side of their homemade red sauce makes a perfect meal onto itself. The pizza here is excellent, the service is really friendly and the prices are really reasonable.
It was almost like COVID never happened. It’s nice to know that some restaurant owners are not gouging. My lunch here was excellent.
It really was a nice afternoon in Downtown Rockaway, NJ even on a gloomy afternoon.
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 